Mark 9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

Because I have all three types of the prophetic gifts I have born witness to the offending eye. It is the abuse of the prophetic gift. I am not even sure with any degree of confidence that the offending eye I have seen is a gift or the desire for the gift.

1 Corinthians 12:31a But covet earnestly the best gifts:

Some covet in the sense of stealing what is not theirs. They will use personal knowledge of others to further the myth of a prophetic gift within themselves. Others will quote scripture with the preface “Thus saith the Lord.” Yes the Lord has said all scripture but to use scripture to insinuate that the Lord is aiming those scriptures at a member of the church for correction is nothing more than judgment run amok.

During discipleship training we will endeavor to cover all three prophet gifts. The motivational, which are given by God at birth. The ministry, which builds up the church. The manifest, which is the power of God absent of any human will.

All the gifts are subject to the same warning. Do not abuse the gifts for self-gain or self-glory for they are a gift from God and should be accorded the respect due God.

In the end the absence of gifts among us does not prevent what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:31b “and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”

With those words Paul begins the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Timothy 1:5 (ESV) The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

The reading for yesterday was Mark 9:1-29 and is filled with awe and wonder. Herein is contained the Transfiguration, the identity of the Baptist, a scribe risking it all to seek Jesus in belief, and an object lesson on faith and fasting.

None of that compares to the good news delivered by verse 9:1. Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, and this was the one thing all Israel had been waiting to see. What they would see in the working of God’s will in self-sacrifice, atonement of sin, crucifixion, and resurrection did not match the vision they had of the coming Messiah. Rome was not cast out from amongst their midst, Caesar still ruled.

I ask you plainly, some two thousand years after this verse, what does Kingdom come look like to you? I dare say I had a different vision of my own as to what all that entailed. I just wanted out of the pain and many do. Guilt and shame, set me free please. Just like the Jews of that time, I was only thinking about myself.

I was transformed in an instant, but I wasn’t conformed for many years. I read faithfully but it took time for the Word to affect real change in me. I had it in me, I knew the Word, it filled my belly, but it took time for it to reach my hands and my feet. A changed heart is great but when it sits alone basking in His glorious light, it shines on no one to the profit of God.